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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24039847">Be Nice Or F*cking Leave</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliotandq/pseuds/eliotandq'>eliotandq</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I Can Do This All Day [oneshots] [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Iron Man (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Pepper Potts, F/M, Howard Stark Lives, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Protective Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:55:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,498</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24039847</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliotandq/pseuds/eliotandq</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Howard has something to say about Pepper and Tony has to face him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Howard Stark &amp; Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>I Can Do This All Day [oneshots] [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2101083</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>75</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Be Nice Or F*cking Leave</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Pepper turned off the computer with a smile and began to prepare to leave the office. They had a date night with Tony today, and she still wanted to change at home. She was almost at the door when they suddenly opened abruptly, nearly knocking her out, and a man she hadn't seen in a few years entered her office.</p><p>"So it's true!" the older man barked, and she just stared at him in shock. "The last time we saw each other, you were just an assistant. These are real changes, Miss Potts. I've always admired you for dealing with Anthony, but as I see it now, all you wanted to do was get to a better position. Let's get to the point... how much you want?" he said nastily, pulling a cheque-book out of his jacket.</p><p>"Excuse me, what?" she blurted out indignantly. What did he think of himself? "Do you think you can pay me to leave my position? That's ridiculous," she laughed in his face. She never liked him. He may have been a genius and a great inventor, but she had no respect for him. Does he think he'll show up here in a few years and everyone will start dancing to his tune?</p><p>"Let's face it, you're not qualified enough to run my company," he grinned.</p><p>"It's not just your company and your son had every right to appoint me as the CEO of Stark Industries. I do a great job, so good luck with the board of directors when you will complain about me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to be somewhere else," she said coldly, walking around so she could leave the office.</p><p>Such impudence! He calmly comes to her office and starts talking about how incompetent she is. That must have seemed to her. She was so upset she didn't even look at the regulations and she drove as fast as she could to be home soon so she could tell Tony what had just happened.</p><p>"Welcome home, miss. Mr. Stark is currently in the workshop," Jarvis announced as she entered the mansion.</p><p>"Thank you, Jarvis," she thanked him and walked down the stairs, where she typed the access code at the door and went inside. "Could you?" she asked, and the loud music Tony was listening to was turned off.</p><p>"Pep! You're home!" Tony greeted her with a smile as he lifted his head from the hologram as soon as the music was turned off.</p><p>"Did you talk to your father?" she asked, walking towards him.</p><p>Tony's smile faded and his gaze slid back to the hologram. "And why would I do something like that, honey? My father is far away in Italy. I haven't known anything about him for a few years," he muttered slightly annoyed. He hated talking about his father, not even with Pepper.</p><p>Pepper was uncertain for a moment. She didn't want to bother him with it, but he should know. "Tony, your father is in the city."</p><p>"What?!" he snapped in surprise.</p><p>"He came to my office and started offering me money to leave my position-"</p><p>"I hope you said no," he interrupted.</p><p>"Of course I said no! Who do you think I am?! He won't let it be," she sighed. She knew Howard was capable of anything.</p><p>"Pep, there's nothing he can do about it. He owns only half of Stark Industries. And we did everything right. You deserve your job. Let's not let my father ruin us tonight, shall we? If I'm not mistaken, we are going to dinner tonight," he said with a small smile, but Pepper knew it bothered him too.</p><p>"I love you," she exhaled and kissed him before leaving him in the workshop alone and going to prepare for their dinner.</p><p>***</p><p>"Oh, I'm surprised you really were sleeping for a solid six hours," Pepper teased when Tony joined her in the kitchen for breakfast in the morning. He didn't even bother to look at his girlfriend and headed straight to the coffee machine. Pepper laughed and took a sip of her green tea. This was just a typical Tony.  He couldn't start doing anything without his morning coffee. She, on the other hand, had already replied to a few emails so she could stay home with Tony for a little longer than usual. To be honest, she wasn't ready to deal with that shit Howard pulled on her yesterday.</p><p>"Good morning, Pep," he said as he finally took a sip of his coffee and kissed her on the cheek.</p><p>"Good morning to you too, Tony," she said with a smile and handed him a plate of pancakes she had prepared for him early.</p><p>"You are an angel," he announced her admiringly and began to eat pancakes with gusto.</p><p>They ate breakfast in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's presence, but it didn't stay in that way for so long. They could hear heavy footsteps from the hall. They exchanged glances, and before Pepper could say anything, Tony was already on his feet, probably about to call his suit.</p><p>"Sir, your father is here," Jarvis announced suddenly.</p><p>"Stay here," he said sharper than he wanted and went into the hallway. He didn't want to see his father, but there was no chance he would let Pepper deal with him herself.</p><p>"Anthony," he greeted him as Tony walked down the hall, finding himself face to face with his father, whom he had not seen in a few years. "We need to seriously talk about who you entrusted to running our family company," he said coldly, and Tony gritted his teeth in anger.</p><p>"Yeah, I don't think so," he muttered.</p><p>"You really couldn't think I'd just leave it like that? This is an absolute scandal! How could you even allow that?! She has no qualifications to be a CEO. You'll fire her, immediately," he snapped.</p><p>"No, I am not gonna do that."</p><p>"What did you just said? It was not a request, but an order. I don't want her in my company."</p><p>"You're unbelievable! Your company? If I'm not mistaken, it's more of my company than yours. What's the deal anyway? You don't care, you never did. I was kidnapped and you didn't care. I closed the weapons division. I saved New York. But you didn't care at all. Want to know why is Pepper the CEO? I was dying. I was dying and wondering to whom to hand over your precious company. And the answer was simple because Pepper led Stark Industries even at the time when I was the CEO. She is staying, deal with it!" he spat it at him.</p><p>"Is everything all right here?" Pepper asked, suddenly appearing beside Tony's side. Both men were not very quiet, so she heard everything and could not allow Tony to be alone with his father.</p><p>"And if you want to know why I let her run a family company, the answer is even simpler than the previous one; she is my family," he said much more calmly and hugged Pepper around the waist.</p><p>Howard stared at the pair in front of him. If he had been upset before, he was completely furious now. "You can't be serious about this anymore! Are you doing this just to piss me off? She only goes after your money and fame! This is one big mess and I'm going to have to clean it up after you. And you Miss Potts, I must say you let me down. I would not expect this behavior from you. I thought you were a smart woman, but you were just a clever bitch-"</p><p>"That's enough! You're under my roof, so be nice or fucking leave!" Tony shouted threateningly. He was used to his father being a dickhead, but he wouldn't talk about his lovely Pepper like that.</p><p>"This is not the end," he said, turning to leave.</p><p>"Good luck with cleaning up," Pepper called after him with a smirk on her face. "Thank you for standing up for me," she said when Howard finally left.</p><p>"It was without debate," he whispered, giving her a quick kiss on her lips.</p><p>"It wasn't. I have to go to work," she sighed.</p><p>"Let me get dressed. I'll go with you," he said, wanting to go to the bedroom, but Pepper's hand on his wrist stopped him.</p><p>"You don't have to, I'll be fine," she assured him.</p><p>"But I want to. He won't just let it be, so until he returns to Italy, I'll go to work with you every day. I promise you won't even know about me! I'll call my mom to compare him," he informed her.</p><p>"I love you," she said with a smile and she let him go get dressed.</p><p>"Love you, too," he shouted at her on his way to the bedroom.</p><p>This situation with Howard wasn't good, but she was still happy. She has Tony and that was enough for her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Once again, English is not my native language, so I apologize for the mistakes.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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